Jackson Tournament 1 Preview

<p>Ever since Dave Mirly moved over to Jackson from Perryville, he brought his tournament hosting skills.  Each year the Jackson Tournaments have added more formidable teams. This year is no exception—Jackson Tournament version one.</p> <p>Pool 1</p> <p><strong>Jackson 6-1</strong> on the season. The only loss on the season is a 3-0 to Advance. Led by senior Hannah Shinn’s 76 kills on the season. </p> <p><strong>Perryville 2-4</strong> Not sure what to think of the Pirates at this point.  Lost to Valle in 5, Windsor in 4, and Advance in 2, but haven’t played but five all season. With Kristen Kaempfe and Jaiden Garris getting the kills, this could be the tournament to get the Pirates going.</p> <p><strong>Francis Howell Central 4-5-1 </strong>Just pushed St Dominic to 5 and lost but battled with one of the best teams in St Louis. Don’t let the record fool you. Senor [player_tooltip player_id="41768" first="Elexus" last="Pearson"] is a wrecking ball in the middle.</p> <p><strong>St Pius 8-3</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="102452" first="Kennedy" last="Lane"] is blistering out 132 kills on the season. The Lancers could be the top dawgs in this pool with role players stepping up. </p> <p><strong>Bernie 7-2 </strong>Another team without much information out there. Traditional the Mules have a strong team. They lost to Advance and Dexter 3-0 on the season. No notable wins against strong teams at this point.</p> <p><strong>Cape Central 6-4-2 </strong>Took Lesterville to 3 before losing where Ella Vogel finished with 18 kills.  With 136 on the season, she’s the leader for the Tigers. Look for her to cause fits for teams at 6’1.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Pool 2</p> <p><strong>Advance 7-0</strong> on paper; this is the best team in the tourney. [player_tooltip player_id="41785" first="Nyah" last="Wilson"] and Alandry Below are the leaders of this team, but everyone on this team can flat out play. Not sure who can beat them in this tourney.</p> <p><strong>Valle 10-1-1</strong> Only loss was a 2-1 set back to Park Hills Central, who they also beat 2-1. Riley Siebert is the kill leader, and Rachel Blum leads the team in digs. Might give Advance some trouble but probably finish second in this pool. </p> <p><strong>Lesterville 10-2-1</strong>  Guided by [player_tooltip player_id="41797" first="Mallory" last="Polk"] with 139 kills, and Reese Gray with 121 carry the team. Grace Hicks has 286 assists on the season.</p> <p><strong>North County 8-2-2  </strong>Junior Emma Gaugel, Kamryn Winch, and Tyler Conkright have the Raiders off to a fast start this season. It should be a battle with Lesterville to see who can finish third in this pool. </p> <p><strong>Saxony Lutheran 2-6-2</strong> The Crusaders have taken some L’s this season but not by much. I see them getting over the hump in this tourney and surprising some teams.</p> <p><strong>Scott City 2-4-3  </strong>Not a lot of info on the Rams with incomplete stats.</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p>The top 4 in each pool advance to play the first place winner versus the fourth-place finisher and so on in bracket play. Pool 2 I think will go as listed above, except for Lesterville and North County.  I think those two could be a toss-up. Pool 1 I’m not sure what to think of this one.  I will say St Pius could win the pool with FH Central and Jackson battling for second. Regardless my pick for the finals will come down to Advance playing St. Pius.  Again, it will depend on where teams will fall from Pool 1.</p>